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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015
EDWARD STRATTON — The Daily Astorian
Brian Harriger, center, and Patrick Gore work at Smoke ’N Vape Bloc, which includes many pieces of paraphernalia for
smoking and vaping.
Smoke, vape shop opens downtown
Second in Astoria
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Downtown Astoria, without
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of 2015, now has two.
Yosef “Joe” Alburati, who
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ventures downtown into Smoke
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mercial Street as the second
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“It’s the new thing to the new
generation,” said Joe Alburati,
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Joe Alburati owns two stores,
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ner Sadek “David” Alammari
entering the store’s main corri-
dor, all black slat walls, shelves
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a wide selection of lighters,
knives and other merchandise.
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town to get the same stuff. The
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downtown was alive enough at
night and wanted to do some-
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Smoke ’N Vape Bloc is run by partners, from left, Yosef “Joe” DVKRSLQ3RUWODQG
Alburati, Sadek “David” Alammari and Muhamed “Mo” Alburati.
The original idea, he said,
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run the store in Astoria is cousin EHHQUHSRUWLQJLQFUHDVHGXVHRI FDPH WR $VWRULD IURP &DOLIRU
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The Alburatis said the store manage, before he bought it
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The Alburatis come from a
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cials have sounded alarm bells, candy and other merchandise.
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Beyond that, they said, ¶1 9DSH %ORF D FKDLQ VWDUWLQJ
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and Tillamook counties, ac-
cording to data released Tues-
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with actual changes.
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It was lower than the state rate
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rate of Oregon’s 36 counties.
The county added 200 non-
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17,640, 600 more than the same
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Erik Knoder said the increase
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ees, from one to a dozen.
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warehousing and utilities added
40; and local government edu-
cation added 60 as the school
year continued after the winter
break.
Industries adding the most
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sional and business services
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Jobless rates
for Feb. 2015 *
Area
Clatsop
Feb. Jan. Feb.
2015 2015 2014
5.6
6
5.9
Columbia
7.1
7.7
7.4
Tillamook
5.6
6.1
6.3
Oregon
5.8
6.7
6.9
U.S.
5.5
5.6
6.7
*Preliminary, seasonaly adjusted rates.
Source: Oregon Employment Department
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Oregon’s 36 counties.
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10,080, 120 more than the year
before.
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increased by 50. Durable goods
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grew by 60.
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rose by 30, and government
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governments, including school
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year.
Columbia County
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Clatsop County
Property Transactions
Seller:&KULVWLQD/7UROLQJHU Drive, Gearhart
Buyers: David I. Pullin
Price: $600,000
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Sellers: Adrian J. Sieg-
the county to change without a
similar change in the number of
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county.
Tillamook County
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has the eighth-lowest unem-
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county’s, tracking alongside
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to gain 60. That left non farm
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cent.
Over the month of February,
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and governments trimmed 10.
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educational and health ser-
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governments cut 20.
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governments trimmed 10. In-
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fessional and business services
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the year.
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data in other formats such as in
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org, select Economic Data, and
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They are reaching out to
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students, about 550 of whom
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Seaside and Warrenton high
schools will be in attendance.
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tions.
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lege-bound students, both at
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and four-year colleges and
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are not aware of the diverse
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industries locally.
To register, visit www.
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da Wyss at 503-325-4821,
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da.l.wyss@oregon.gov. Em-
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tributed to all the high schools
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mann
Price: $365,000
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Sellers: James Franz and
Address: 150 Kensington $OH[LV.KRXU\
Ave., Astoria
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Price: $379,900
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EDWARD STRATTON — The Daily Astorian
Rafael Otero and his wife Patricia O’Donnell (not pic-
tured) fixed their carriage guest house on the north
slope of Astoria into a couples bed and breakfast.
Making
the
Dollar
INTERVIEWS WITH LOCAL BUSINESSES
BY EDWARD STRATTON
Rafael Otero, co-owner
Windwater Bed & Breakfast
172 Duane St.
Astoria
503-338-8702 or
stay@windwaterbedandbreakfast.com
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their 1980’s carriage house into the Windwater Bed
& Breakfast, which overlooks Astoria from the north
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moved to Astoria from San Francisco more than a de-
cade ago.
How would you describe your business?
“We’re going for something a little different than what
you see here in Astoria. It’s not a Victorian, so we’re go-
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to our guests. I’ve done a little research with the commu-
nity, what’s out here. I’ve reached out to a lot of business
owners in town. I took some classes at the college, be-
cause this is a new venture for us.”
How did you get into this business?
“I and my wife moved here 11 years ago, and it’s
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and 10 years went by, 11 years went by, and we never
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‘you know; let’s focus on what we really wanted to do.’
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and history.”
What is your main clientele?
“In the 10 years we’ve been here, we’ve seen Astoria
grow, everywhere from the breweries, to the distilleries,
to the eateries, and I’ve done a little research for what’s
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market. We’re not going to have a lot of rooms. We’re
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we’re going to kind of market it as that.”
How will you do differentiate your business from
other bed and breakfasts?
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town, where they can go have breakfast or lunch at their
own time. Not to say that there’s not going to be stuff
here to eat. It’s also a way to involve the community, the
local restaurants. It will be a little different than what
the other B&Bs are doing. They usually serve break-
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o’clock. So there’s that short window. We want you to
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and we want you to have choices.”
non and Bonnie Boyd Shan- DQG/RUL'(EULJKW
non
Address: 296 Silverside
Buyer: 70&- 3DFL¿F 6W+DPPRQG
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Price: $335,000
Address: 6 +HP
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Sellers:
Richard
S.
Price: $350,000
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Buyer: George Ruth
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Address: 0LOO 3RQG
erson
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Buyers: 'DU\ / (EULJKW
Price: $335,000